The present invention relates to wind instruments, and particularly, to flutes.
A wide variety of wind instruments have been developed over the years. Woodwind instruments include any of a group of wind instruments (for example, the clarinet, the flute, the oboe, and the saxophone) that are generally characterized by a cylindrical or conical tube of material (for example, wood or metal), sometimes ending in a slightly flared bell. These instruments produce tones by the vibration of one or two reeds in the mouthpiece or by the passing of air over a mouth hole. Wind instruments usually have finger holes or keys by which the player may produce all the tones within an instrument's range
Flutes are wind instrument of ancient origin that were formerly made of wood, but now are typically made from silver and other metals. Sound is produced in various types of flutes by either blowing across a round mouth-hole (whether in end-blown flutes such as panpipes or in transverse, side-blown flute) or by blowing into a whistle mouthpiece (as in the recorder or flageolet). The modern flute is descended from the German (transverse) flute. Modern era flutes are typically predominantly cylindrical in bore (while typically having a slight taper in the mouthpiece end) and stopped at one end. The player's breath causes vibration of a column of air inside the tube. The mouth-hole of the flute causes the flute to act acoustically as an open tube.
The traditional keyless flute typically has six holes, and cannot obtain all the chromatic notes with good intonation, even over a single octave. Furthermore, obtaining some of the chromatic notes on such instruments requires “half-holing” or covering only part of a hole. Half-holing is a difficult technique and produces inconsistent results, particularly during fast passages. Half-holing also produces very inferior tone quality. Additional holes have been added to some instruments to address this problem. Simple system, six-holed flutes have been made chromatic by the addition of holes controlled by key mechanisms. This design trend culminated in the development of the modern orchestral instrument by Theobold Boehm.
The modern orchestral (Boehm) flute, and its predecessor, the eight keyed classical flute, are truly chromatic designs which possess many desirable qualities. However, these qualities are obtained by means of a complex and delicate arrangement of mechanical keys. The manufacture of this key mechanism is precise and time-consuming, and therefore costly. Furthermore, the mechanism of the modern flute is delicate. A simple mishap, such as dropping the instrument onto the floor, often renders the instrument inoperable until repaired, at great expense, by a professional technician.
There are other musical instruments that are usually used in a manner similar to flute. For example, the recorder is a keyless instrument that obtains all chromatic notes. However, the recorder is a fipple flute (a whistle) and does not offer the embouchure control available on a flute. It is a difficult instrument to learn in that the fingerings vary dramatically between octaves. The recorder has a tapered bore, making it difficult and expensive to manufacture. Moreover, the recorder is a quiet instrument, best suited to baroque ensembles, and cannot be matched with modern instruments such as the saxophone or the drum set.
In general, both of the hands of the musician are required to support flutes and similar woodwind instruments during playing. Use of the thumb of the lower hand (typically the right hand) for fingering notes is not possible as the thumb of the lower hand is required to support the instrument. On several such instruments, a thumb rest for the thumb of the lower hand is provided.
It is desirable to develop alternative wind instruments, and particularly flutes, that provide a chromatic range and yet reduce or eliminate at least some of the problems associated with currently available instruments.